The Tree Lobster of Ball's Pyramid
A giant insect thought extinct for 80 years was found living under a single bush on a sheer sea stack in the Pacific.
What was reported
The Lord Howe Island stick insect, nicknamed the tree lobster, is a large, dark, flightless insect up to 15 cm long. It was common on Lord Howe Island until 1918, when rats escaped from a shipwreck and wiped it out. It was declared extinct.
Twenty kilometres away stands Ball's Pyramid, a sheer volcanic spike rising 562 metres from the ocean. In 2001, scientists David Priddel and Nicholas Carlile climbed it at night and found 24 of the insects living under a single shrub, high on the rock.
Explanations offered
Some of the insects were taken to breed in captivity at Melbourne Zoo, where thousands have since been raised. Plans are under way to return them to Lord Howe Island now that rats have been removed. It is one of the most remarkable rediscoveries in natural history.
- When
- Thought extinct by 1920s; rediscovered 2001
- Where
- Ball's Pyramid, off Lord Howe Island, Australia
- Witnesses
- Scientists who climbed the rock
- Status
- Confirmed
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